Liberals: Province Must Launch Full Inquiry into Death of David Fifi

Manitoba Liberal Leader and MLA for St. Boniface, Dougald Lamont, says that a public inquiry must be called into the death David Fifi, after new evidence has emerged that the Thompson worker died from exposures to toxic gases at work, and not of natural causes as a previous coroner’s report had stated.
Fifi died 10 years ago, on November 6th, 2008. He had been working at Comstock Canada in Thompson as a boilermaker, and suffered multiple accidental exposures to poisonous gases in the days prior to his death. The evidence was reviewed by forensic examiner Dr. Peter Markestyn, who made it clear in a letter to the Worker’s Compensation Board that the cause of death was accidental, and not a heart attack.
Manitoba Liberals say that the only way to get to the truth of Fifi’s death, workplace safety issues in Thompson, and the secrecy surrounding it is through a public inquiry.
“The Government of Manitoba has as a primary obligation to ensure that people work in safety and get home alive, and we need an inquiry to understand why the NDP Government and others ignored and abandoned David Fifi and his co-workers,” said Lamont.
Liberals say the evidence suggests that there may have been other incidents, and many other workers affected.
“The Fifi family and others deserve more than answers – they deserve justice, and a public inquiry is an essential first step in making that happen,” said Lamont.